mallebre



2 SheetsSheet 1.

(No Model.)

H. MALLEBRE.

PEDAL FOR PIANOS.

N0. 446,710. Patented Feb. 17,1891.

==l INVENTOI? WITNESSES:

2 Sheets Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

H. MALLEBRE,

PEDAL FOR PIANOS.

No. 446,710. Patented Feb. 17,1891.

l/VVE/VTUR 1 7 k0: ATTORNEY,

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UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

llFNRY MALLEBRE, 0h NElY YORK, X. Y.

PEDAL FOR PIANOS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 446,710, dated February 17, 1891. Application filed August 25,- 1890: Serial No. 36%968. (No model.)

i") aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that. I, HENRY MALLEBRE, of the city, county, and State of New York, a citizen of the United States, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pedals for Pianos, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in pianos, and especially to devices used for diminishing the sounds produced by means of the strings and hammers.

Theobject of my invention is to provide a sound diminishing attachment for pianos which can readily be adjusted to operate whenever desired and can readily be released by a simple movement of the foot. The invention consists in the combination, with the ordinary piano pedal and an additional pedal, of a latch pivoted above the addi tional pedal for locking it in latched position, and an arm extending from said latch below the piano pedal, which latter is also used for disengaging the latch from the additional pedal. 7

The invention also consists in the construction and combination of parts and details, which will be fully described hereinafter, and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the lower front part of a piano, showing the arrangement of the pedals, parts being broken out and the supplemental pedal being in normal position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the parts in the position they have when the mechanism is adjusted for operation. Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the pedals. Fig. 4c is a vertical trans verse sectional view on the line a; 00, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view of apiano provided with myimproved attachment, parts being omitted and others being in dotted lines.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts.

The piano-casing is provided at the bottom with the three pedals A, D, and C, of which the pedal A is the usualforte pedal, B the supplemental pedal, and O the usual piano pedal. A is the rod for operating the forte mechanism from pedal A. Through the innor end of the pedal. B the rod D passes and is provided with a nutD or a head below the pedal, so that when the pedal is pressed down ward the rod D is also moved downwart. Said rod D passes through an aperture in one end of the lever E, pivoted on the standard E on the bottom of the piano-casin The nut or collar D on the rod D rests on the top of said lever, so that when the pedal 13 is forced downward one end of the lever E is forced downward and the other end is raised.

A spring G, secured to a standard or block G of the casing, serves to press that end of the lever E through which the rod D passes upward, and thus keeps the opposite end in the lowered position. Above the pedal B a latch II is pivoted, which is provided with a notch ll, into which the pedal B can pass, and with a wing 11 the end of which is slightly curved. That end of the latch H 0pposite the one having the curved arm H is weighted. \Yhen the pedal B is pressed downward, the weighted end of the latch H descends under the action of its own weight, and the bottom part of the latch rests upon the lowered pedal B, as shown in Fig. 2, thus locking said pedal in lowered position, the end of the arm l-l resting against the bottom of the piano pedal 0, which is in. raised position. When it is desired to disengage or release the pedal B, the piano pedal 0 is pressed downward and, acting on the arm H of the latch H, forces the same downward, whereby the bottom part of the latch H is moved to the right, permitting the pedal B to move upward into the notch ll under the action of the spring G, acting on the lever E. The piano pedal is also raised by the lever E as the rod E passes from the pedal 0 through the lever E. A red J rests on that end of the lever E opposite the one through which the rod D passes, and on the upper end of said rod J the hammenrail K is fastened, against which the hammers rest. When the pedal B or C is moved downward, the rod J and the hammer-rest K are raised, and thus the hammers are moved into a position near the strings and will not then have as great a stroke as when in normal position-that is, they are in the usual piano position, and thus the sounds now produced by the hammer are not as loud as those produced when operating the hammers from the normal position.

leverE to operate the ordinary piano stop and the so-called soft stop that is, to hold and lock the hammer-rail K in the piano position for any desired length of time.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination, with a pedal, of a piv oted and weighted latch arranged above said pedal and provided with a laterally-extending arm, and a second pedal located sidewise ot' the first pedal and adapted to engage said arm, substantially as set forth.

2. lhe combination, with two pedals, of a locking-lever for one pedal, a pivoted lever, and rods extending upward from both pedals through said lever for operating the lever from either pedal, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY MALLEBRE.

Witnesses:

OSCAR F. GU NZ, MARTIN PETRY. 

